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Hi there, sorry I'm a little late on this post. I don't have any experience with weddings at the Royal Kona, however I have stayed there. The resort was really nice, our room was comfortable, nothing super fantastic, but how much time do you really spend in your room when you're in Hawaii!? The hotel itself is very pretty and within walking distance to anything in Kona. If you want any nightlife through you or your guests stay, this is a good option bc Kona is about the only place on the island with any kind of nightlife, even if it is minimal. The Royal Kona does put on a really fun, great luau and the ocean front location is very beautiful. If you are at all interested in a church wedding, there is the first Christian church in Hawaii within walking distance to the hotel. I don't know many of the hotels in Kona, but if you are looking for an ocean front location in downtown Kona, this would be my choice. The King Kamehameha hotel is also in DT Kona but when I was in Kona this past fall it was going through big renovations and their tiny beach is always flooded with local kids. Another consideration is the resorts along the Kohala Coast, they are a few choices which are really beautiful...but they are pricey! Good luck with your planning!!!

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I was thinking about having my wedding there too. Were you thinking about the one in Maui or the Big Island? Yah, I was looking at the prices and the pictures online. It looks pretty good but I am concerned about the mixed reviews as well. Could you please let me know how your wedding goes?

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We have set a data with the Royal Kona Resort. No major details have been worked out other than a date and time but we were told that the onsite coordinator will contact us 30-60 days out to set everything up. They have been more than open to any questions that we've had up till now as well and even provided a few references that we've contacted. The grounds look gorgeous and although its hard to justify with pictures sometimes if you havent been there but we feel comfortable with the selection.

As far as the hotel itself, the mixed reviews were slightly alarming but I agree, how often do you plan on staying in the room. Plus we are only planning on staying there one night before going to another island for the honeymoon. Best of luck with your decisions and don't hesitate to ask me any questions.

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Here are some pics from the Royal Kona when I stayed there in 2006. They are a little random, as I wasn't thinking about it for a wedding, I just took a few shots of cool stuff around the hotel. Hopefully they'll give you a better idea of what you're going to!

I have to tell you I am so jealous you are getting married there! The Big Island is my most favorite place on the planet Plus its where I got engaged (it was my fav place before but that sealed the deal haha) You're going to love the Big Island! For a fun place to eat check out Lulus, or Fish Hopper for something a little more formal. Go with Jack's Diving Locker if you dive (def do the night manta dive!) And Scandanavian Ice Cream has the best locally made ice cream you'll ever taste, try volcano! YUM! For flowers, go to the Kona Farmers Market...CHEAP and beautiful!! Ok I'll stop blabbering, I just figured I'd add a few of my favs in the area. ENJOY! and Good luck with the rest of your planning!

Resort from the Ocean-

Resort at night

Lobby

I cant remember quite where this is at the hotel, I guess its at the entrance maybe? But it was a neat little bridge over water around the resort

Pool

I hope you have a beautiful sunset like the one I saw the night I stayed there!

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My fiance and I are seriously thinking about having our wedding here next January. I would love some details or any pointers you could give us. Please let us know how it went and any help is greatly appreciated.

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I recently got engaged at Royal Kona and we're thinking of getting married there too. Which location did you pick and how many people do you plan to invite? I have some videos posted on youtube of the resort. You can PM me if you want the link. I highly recommend the luau and you can also pay 5$ extra to get VIP seating. If you decide to stay at the resort, I recommend the Alii tower. If you decide to pick one of the premade packages, some of them include a free night's stay. They also have a buy 2 get your 3rd night free until December 2011. If you mention it's your honeymoon/weddingmoon you get a free bottle of champagne and upgraded room if it's available. Good luck and keep us posted!

Java on the Rocks is about a 2 minute walk from the resort. Great place for breakfast/coffee right next to the water.
South Kona Farmers Market was nice to get flowers/leis/fruits, closes at 4.

Basik is a wonderful acai bowl place above Snorkel Bob's. They even have binoculars for you.

Kona Brewery is 2.13 miles from the resort. Awesome food and beer.

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I am new here and found this website by Googling "Royal Kona Resort wedding". I just realized this topic is a year old, but a couple of you responded within the past year hah. I stayed the hotel last year and immediately said that it's the place where I want to get married. The mixed reviews are probably more for the rooms itself however keep in mind the out of date rooms are in a particular tower. I stayed in the Lagoon Tower in an ocean front room and my room was comfortable, clean, and beautiful. I had a view of the ocean and of the luau that they hold.

I found the grounds of the hotel to be beautiful and exactly fits the look of how I would think a hotel in Hawaii would look if I have never been to Hawaii (been there 4x). The packages are also great deals if you plan on having a small wedding. Ideally we want a really small intimate wedding with no more than 30 people. Since it is a destination wedding for us with most people having to fly in from California and New York we figure we won't have that many interested in coming based on the airfare so our ideal head count may in fact work (we really just want close family and really close friends there).

With the food, I didn't care for the hotel's breakfast buffet. It was okay food, but it was nothing special. I also drank at the bar and drinks were pretty good. I don't know what food you plan on getting, but we want pretty much the same food that they have their luau with the exception of pork (religion). I never made it to their luau, but I have heard good things about the food they serve for it.

I never thought I would want a destination wedding because it would worry me that the day of my wedding, things wouldn't look how I would have wanted them to look, and that my ideas never really came alive (I am a control freak). What's great about RKR is that they actually have a wedding coordinator at a on site "shop" that basically coordinates everything for you so you don't have that many people you need to go through. The only thing about planning a destination wedding that would bother me is that I don't get to do a tasting. We are thinking though of making a special trip to Kona a couple of months before the wedding just to have an in person meeting to go over plans, and to taste food. We have enough FF miles saved and would plan to just stay at hotels through Priceline so it wouldn't be that expensive of a trip

Does anyone know though if the cute white wooden chairs that they have for the ceremony are also the chairs for the reception? I know the chivari chairs you have to rent from an outside rental place (I hear that they are $10 per chair in Hawaii!), but also saw those conference style chairs which I hate. I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on chivari chairs so that is out. We would be happy though if we can have the white, wooden chairs for the reception as well though at no added cost.

The only thing I assumed about the packages offered is that the floral arrangements are very small and basic.

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BigIslandFan: We plan on going to RKR for "Project Recon" before we plan our wedding there. It would probably be good to scout things out before having your wedding there. Even though we've stayed there before, I don't remember even seeing some of the venues that they have listed on their site. They have their menu listed and a lot of it is food from the luau and restaurant/bar. We went to the luau and the food was awesome. We also went to happy hour at the bar quite often and had drinks and pupus. It was all delicious! Please PM me if you find out any more info.